Panglao Island to Manila, The Philippines to Chiang Mai, Thailand
I came from the green area on the right to the big blue dot on the left-
It was a beautiful morning as usual but I packed up and headed for the airport about 10am. The owner of my bike was to meet me there at 10:30 but he was coming on the bus so was delayed. I drove around the airport parking lot, getting whistled at by the police for “sneaking” into the paid parking- I didn’t mean to, then kept circling. Finally I paid to park, put the key in the helmet but decided to sit with the shuttle drivers and wait for him. A woman came along selling coconut water which I don’t like but she mixed it with condensed milk! Now that’s good but sort of defeats the purpose!
I had lots of time and it’s a very small airport so there really wasn’t a rush to hurry up and wait. I hadn’t been able to check in online because my second flight was international. That always bugs me because even though I know I’m going to leave my next destination before my welcome runs out, they don’t so I have to be able to prove it. This time all I had was an email about my slow boat booking down the Mekong but that was enough.
It’s a one hour flight to Manila and I will admit I’m a bit? racist towards some Asians. They are pushy, loud, self centred and take forever taking pictures in their variety of poses. A Korean family sat in my row- long dyed blonde hair Mom, a daughter who was sick, Dad who had the profile of Bruce Springsteen and a younger girl. Great I thought. Well, Lee, the Mom and I had the best time! She was very talkative and so excited about their 2 week trip that was unfortunately ending. She showed me lots of pictures and we communicated through her phone translating app. She was a lovely woman and all I could think about was - thank you for the lesson!
Once at the airport, the shit show began. I had a 7.5 hour layover so wanted to get a Grab and go to the Harley Davidson store. I had contacted both before to see if they had women’s t-shirts and one did so that was my plan. I called a Grab on the app but couldn’t find him. I went from floor to floor looking. There’s a Grab pick up area but that’s only for Grabs ordered through the office at the airport. Eventually he left but charged me $2.00. Fine.
Once I figured out which level of the airport I needed to be on, there are 4, I called another. He was young and didn’t speak much English because he’d been lazy in school yet he sang away to all the songs on the radio. I found out not only was he lazy in English but he couldn’t read or follow instructions. Grab is like Uber - you get a map on your phone where to go. We had the same map but he had his own plan. We used the Sky Lanes- they built a massive second road above the main road that has a toll system that guess who has to pay for? - me, but it’s way faster. We went on that for a while then instead of turning where the app suggested, he kept going. He missed a couple suggested turns then finally did. Then we would go a couple blocks, turn, repeat. Eventually we made it to the store but it was the longest way ever. I shouldn’t complain because the price is set at the booking so it really made no difference to me.
I found a t-shirt and called another Grab to take me back to the airport. By this time it was rush hour but at least this driver followed the map. It took an hour and a half, creeping along in traffic to get back to the airport. The driver was probably 25, lives with his mother and driving for Grab is his second job. He sensors YouTube and X videos. All day. He says he likes it well enough. I was a lucky pickup for him because his Grandfather was returning from L.A. so he had to pick him up anyway.
Each ride cost $20 and the t-shirt was $70 so…… It’s an addiction! It comes close to the most expensive HD t-shirt I’ve ever bought, that one was in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Back at the airport everything went smoothly. I met my first Canadian and then realized, oh, oh, I’m going to Thailand. The country of old white men coupled with young beautiful Thai women. It’s gross. I read recently why older men leave their wives for younger women. Older women will not tolerate immature behaviour from men their age so these men can act like they are in their 20s/30s because the younger women don’t know any different. That makes a lot of sense. Or you have the loser white men who couldn’t find a woman in their own country who “prey”, maybe that’s an unfair word but are able to find a desperate, beautiful young foreign woman who needs the money for herself and her family. I’m sure, or I’m hoping there are some who truly fall in love because of each other but….
There were at least 4 single older white men on the flight.
I visited with a young Aussie man who quit his government job in Canberra to travel. He thinks he may have enough money to last 2 years, if he is frugal. He just spent 7 weeks on a couple Philippine islands re-reading old classics. Finally he asked himself what he was doing and came to Thailand.
We were an hour late leaving so didn’t get anway until 10:30 pm. I slept 3 hours - I’m so lucky I can do that. Cebu Pacific must be The Philippines low cost carrier. They didn’t even offer water! Nothing! And there is no media service either which doesn’t bother me anyway. The seats offer lots of legroom but are quite upright, even when reclined. Oh well.
Once in Chiang Mai, I caught a cab to my hostel. It was kind of eerie. Of course it was 1:30 am but the streets were truly deserted, there were few street lights and everything looked really clean. I got a text as we were just about at Ed Hostel Rachamakka that the attendant would only be there until 2 am. He was standing on the street waiting and what a polite and gracious man! He wanted to carry my backpack and kept giving me the hands together bowing sign.
My room-
It’s really small but clean and cool. The AC unit is right beside me. I had to lock my shoes up at the entrance so the floors will be nice and clean for bare feet. I’m curious to get exploring in the morning.
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